# Thorpe rail accident > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thorpe_rail_accident > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thorpe_rail_accident.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_rail_accident > Source revision: 1319346237 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1874 train crash in Norfolk, England Thorpe rail accident Details Date 10 September 1874 21:45 Location Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk Country England Line Norfolk Railway Cause Single-line telegraphic working error Statistics Trains 2 Deaths 25 Injured 75 List of UK rail accidents by year The **Thorpe rail accident** occurred on 10 September 1874 when two trains were involved in a head-on collision near [Thorpe St Andrew](/source/Thorpe_St_Andrew), [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk), England.[1] [2] The accident occurred on what was then a single-track rail line between [Norwich Thorpe](/source/Norwich_railway_station) and [Brundall](/source/Brundall_railway_station). The two trains involved were the 20:40 mail from [Yarmouth Vauxhall](/source/Great_Yarmouth_railway_station) and the 17:00 express from London to Yarmouth. The latter had left Norwich Thorpe at 21:30 and would normally have had a clear run on its way to Yarmouth, since the mail train should have been held on a loop line at Brundall to allow the express to pass. On this occasion trains were running late. In such circumstances, when the timetable could not be kept, drivers had to have written authority to proceed further. Due to a series of errors (primarily, the telegraph clerk sending the authorisation message before it had been signed by the appropriate official), both drivers received their authority, and anxious to make up for lost time, set off at speed along the single track. The accident, when it occurred around 21:45, resulted in both locomotives rearing into the air, and carriages reduced to wreckage. Both drivers and firemen were killed, as were seventeen passengers, with four later dying from their injuries.[3] Seventy-three passengers and two railway guards were seriously injured. Graves of mail train driver John Prior and fireman James Light in [Rosary Cemetery, Norwich](/source/Rosary_Cemetery%2C_Norwich) Sketch map from 1874 Board of Trade report (detail) Prompted by the accident, engineer Edward Tyer developed the [tablet system](/source/Tyer's_Electric_Train_Tablet) in which a token is given to the train driver; this must be slotted into an electric interlocking device at the other end of the single-track section before another train is allowed to pass.[3] ## Similar accidents The [Canoe River train crash](/source/Canoe_River_train_crash) in Canada in 1950 also involved two trains, controlled by telegraphed orders, authorized to enter the same single-track section in opposite directions. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Rolt, L. T. C.](/source/L._T._C._Rolt); Kichenside, Geoffrey (1986). *Red for Danger* (4th ed.). Pan Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-330-29189-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-330-29189-0). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Tyler, Col. H. W. (30 September 1874). ["Report of the Court of Enquiry"](https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_Norwich1874.pdf) (PDF). HMSO. Retrieved 9 November 2008. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DerailWhy_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DerailWhy_3-1) *Derail: Why Trains Crash* by Nicholas Faith, page 44, publ 2000 by [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) books, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7522-7165-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7522-7165-2) ## External links - [Illustrated London News report](http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/ind_rev/iln/accident.htm#norwich) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191210181725/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/ind_rev/iln/accident.htm#norwich) 10 December 2019 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) - [History feature on the disaster](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0138q82) by [BBC Radio Norfolk](/source/BBC_Radio_Norfolk) - [Broadland Memories](https://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/blog/2014/09/the-thorpe-railway-disaster-1874/) v t e Railway accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom in the 19th century 1830s Parkside (Sep 1830) Wetheral (Dec 1836) Harrow (Aug 1838) 1840s Howden (Aug 1840) Sonning Cutting (Dec 1841) Penistone (Oct 1845) Dee Bridge (May 1847) Shrivenham (May 1848) 1850s Cowlairs (Aug 1850) Sutton Tunnel (Apr 1851) Brighton (Jun 1851) Burnley (Jun 1852) Straffan (Oct 1853) Reading Southern (Sep 1855) Lewisham (Jun 1857) Round Oak (Aug 1858) 1860s Helmshore (Sep 1860) Atherstone (Nov 1860) Wootton (Jun 1861) Clayton Tunnel (Aug 1861) ‡ Kentish Town (Sep 1861) Winchburgh (Oct 1862) Rednal (Jun 1865) Staplehurst (Jun 1865) Welwyn Tunnel (Jun 1866) Yanwath (Feb 1867) Warrington (Jun 1867) Abergele (Aug 1868) ‡ Maesycwmmer (Jun 1869) Dalton Junction (Dec 1869) 1870s Newark (Jun 1870) Tamworth (Sep 1870) Stairfoot (Dec 1870) Hatfield (Dec 1870) Ballymacarrett (May 1871) Kirtlebridge (Oct 1872) Wigan (Aug 1873) Menheniot (Dec 1873) Bo'ness Junction (Jan 1874) Thorpe (Sep 1874) ‡ Shipton-on-Cherwell (Dec 1874) ‡ Kildwick & Crosshills (Aug 1875) Abbots Ripton (Jan 1876) Radstock (Aug 1876) Heeley (Nov 1876) Morpeth (Mar 1877) Tay Bridge (Dec 1879) ‡ 1880s Burscough Junction (Jan 1880) Wennington Junction (Aug 1880) Inverythan (Nov 1882) Penistone (Jul 1884) ‡ Penistone (Jan 1885) Hexthorpe (Sep 1887) ‡ Penistone (Mar 1889) Armagh (Jun 1889) ‡ 1890s Norton Fitzwarren (Nov 1890) Norwood Junction (May 1891) Esholt Junction (Jun 1892) Thirsk (Nov 1892) Llantrisant (Aug 1893) Chelford (Dec 1894) St Neots (Nov 1895) Snowdon (Apr 1896) Menheniot (Feb 1897) Welshampton (Jun 1897) Penistone (Oct 1897) Menheniot (Nov 1897) Potters Bar (Mar 1898) St Johns (Mar 1898) Wellingborough (Sep 1898) Wrawby Junction (Oct 1898) Potters Bar (May 1899) ‡ indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities 1900–1999 [52°37′28″N 1°20′31″E / 52.62436°N 1.34208°E / 52.62436; 1.34208](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Thorpe_rail_accident¶ms=52.62436_N_1.34208_E_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TG263082)) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thorpe rail accident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_rail_accident) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_rail_accident?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.